He's too attached to his mum: expert opinion

Julia feels like she's deprived of part of her relationship with her partner, the part that Alex's mum has taken over. She does everything for the pair of them so what's left for Julia?

Her feelings of jealousy towards her mother-in-law are justifiable as she wants to play this maternal role herself and be able to make Alex as happy as his mum can.

The bar is set high so it's possible that Julia is also fearful of not reaching the same standards.

She sees signs of immaturity in Alex's behaviour, which she finds difficult to explain as he acts like an adult in all other areas of his life.

She therefore wonders if she's to blame. As Alex doesn't trust her "even for the tiniest of things", she ends up doubting her own abilities. Unable to take a step back, she doesn't realise that she's not at fault.